Hygienic mouthpiece



1929- I s. STORCH 1,736,228

HYGIENIC MOUTHPIECE Filed Feb. 16, 1929 Patented Nov. 19, 1929 UNITE-Dsm'rss PATENT OFFICE v annular. sroncangm RooxLYN, NEW YORK, Assren'onro Tran ,nrrn ro noo, INC., 0]?

ARLINGTON, new JERSEY HYGIENIC MOU'IHPIECE Application filed February16, 1929. Serial No. 340,595.

, strnment, said improved mouthpiece being acoustically developed topermit the whispering of themessage without affecting itsre'ceivingiclarity.

. Speoifically,.t;he invention resides in the production of an article.of the above-mentioned-character, which may be manufactured atangextremely lowcost to assure its commercial' success, andwhich willpermit of its con signmentas a discardafter a short period of use,,-orafter a single use.

An important object is to provide a mouthpiece which ,maybe carriedabout ones person and attaehedto a public telephone during theconversation, ,thus preventing the contra-otionofa disease due to lodgedgerms fre quentlypresent insuch public telephones.

Still another object of the invention is to produce an article of theabove-mentioned character which may be fabricated. from fleX- iblematerial, such as celluloid, or the like, and on which may be printedadvertising matter of various descriptions, its low cost permitting ofits distribution as an advertising medium, and at the same timebenefiting the user in that private telephone calls may be made in amodulated voice, and relieving the user from the anxiety of contractingdiseases from usual germ-laden mouthiece.

A still further object is to provide an additional novel element wherebymy improved mouthpiece may be attached to the transmitting portion ofthe well-known type of French telephone, wherein the transmitting andreceiving portions are combined as a unitary structure.

WVith these objects in View, together with others which will appear asthe description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel formation,combination and arrangement of parts, all as .willbe describedmore fullyhereinafter, illustratedin the drawings, and particularly pointed outintheclaims.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved hygienic mouthpiece.

Fig. 2 is a central, vertical sectional view thereof and illustratingthe front portion of the usual linouthpiececarrying my invention.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the .mouthpiece removed from the telephonetransmitter.

Fig. 4t is asectional view like unto Fig. 2, but furthershowing-insection, a novel form element whereby said mouthpiece may beremovably attached to the French type of telephone instrument.

FigS-isan elevationof said element; and

Fig.6 is a side elevation thereof.

Refer *ing nowmore in detail to the accompanyin g drawings,wherein likecharacters of reference .denotesimilar parts throughout the severalviews, lot 10 indicate generally my improved hygie ic mouthpiece, whichcomprises a body portion 11, somewhat bellshaped and presenting sideportions which gracefullyfiare outwardly toward the open end of saidarticle. llhe r ear portion is provided with a web .1 2,suitablyapertured, as shown at 13, to permit the passage of the .ndwaves, producedby the human voice, to the vibrating part of thetelephone instrument. .T he partsjustdescribed are formed of onepieceand may be pressed to this shape from a single piece-of flexiblematerial, such as celluloid, or the,lilre,the rim adjacent therelatively large mouth, or openend, being rolled to present a smoothsurface, as shown at 14.

The .m eans for removably attaching the article to the standardmouthpiece 15 includes a flanged, portion 16, the marginal edge thereofbeing bent inwardly, as, indicated at 17, toengage said mouthpiece 15when the latter is inserted therebeneath. In the present example of theinvention said flanged portion 16 is formed integrally with aWeb portion18,,havi-ng apertures 19, alined withthe apcrtureslil of said webportion 12, both of said web portions being afiixed in a suitablemanner, suchascementing'for instance. It

will further be observed that the base of said flanged portion 16 isslightly depressed, as shown at 20, to snugly engage the rear of saidbody portion 11, and at the same time to furnish a resting place for theinner marginal portion of said mouthpiece 15. It will, of course, beunderstood that the flexibility of the material permits the necessaryexpansion during the insertion of said mouthpiece 15.

In view of the relatively large open end presented by the body portion11, the mouth of the user may be placed very close thereto, thuspermitting the carrying on of a telephone conversation in a low voiceapproximating a whisper. By way of suggestion it is proposed to inscribethe word WVhisper on said web portion 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 1,and in order that the article may also serve as an advertising medium,the inner portion of said body portion 11 may have printed thereoncertain advertising matter, as shown at 21 in said Fig. 1. The low costof producing the article permits of its distribution gratis to customersof the advertiser, and further the cheapness of the same permits it tobe dis carded after a single use or when it may appear to have becomelodged with germs. Obviously, the'mouthpiece may be cleansed if desiredand serve its purpose for long periods of time. 7

,In the types. of instruments wherein the transmitter and receivingportions are combined, as in the French instrument for instance, theslightly modified form of transmitter requires an attachment to securemy mouthpiece to the same. To this end I have developed the member 22,having a sleeve portion 23 adapted to be inserted in the opening of thetransmitter portion 24, diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 4. Saidmember 22 is further provided with a circumferential flange 25 adaptedto be inserted beneath said flange 16, the inturned portion'17 abuttingthe marginal portion of said flange 25 and maintaining the said memberas shown in Fig. 4-. It will be understood that said flange 16 may beilexed to permit the insertion or removal of said member 22, as desired.

From the foregoing it is apparent that l have developed a mouthpiecewhich is sanitary and hygenic, in that its low cost of productionpermits of its disposal to the waste basket after an extremely limiteduse, and as pointed out hereinbefore said article may be used as. anadvertising medium. That its use may become universal is foreseen by theadditional advantage of being able to carry on a telephone conversationin a whisper, thus assuring privacy for confidential communications.

\Vhile the present is a disclosure of the preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is to be understood that the same is not limited thereto,as various changes in the minor details of construction, proportion andarrange ment of parts may be resorted to Without departing from thespirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim.

1. A mouthpiece comprising a bell-shaped body portion adapted to beprinted with advertising matter, an integral apertured web portionarranged at the rear of said body portion and a flange having aninturned portion adapted to be flexed to permit the insertion or removalof the mouthpiece of a telephone instrument.

2. A mouthpiece comprising a bell-shaped body portion, an apertured Webportion arranged at the rear thereof, another web portion afllrzed tothe first-named web portion and having a series of apertures alined withthe apertures in said web portion and a flange carried by saidsecond-named web portion, said flange being depressed and presenting aninturned portion adapted to be flexed to permit the insertion or removalof the mouthpiece of a telephone instrument.

3. A mouthpiece comprising a bell-shaped body portion and a marginalflange arranged at the rear portion thereof, said flange being depressedand having an inturned portion to permit of attachment or removal ofsaid mouthpiece to the standard mouthpiece of a telephone instrument.

A mouthpiece comprising a bell-shaped body portion adapted to be printedwith advertising matter, an integral apertured web portion arranged atthe rear of said body portion and a marginal flange associated with saidweb portion, said flange being depressed and having an inturned portionadapted to be flexed to permit the insertion or removal of themouthpiece of a telephone instrument.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

SAMUEL STORCH.

